Is the Iraq War Losing Its Zingy Public Appeal?
Frank Rich in the New York Times (evade the Times Select wall here at TruthOut) thinks the Iraq War is sadly losing out in the ratings:
You won't catch anyone saying it's Day 1,229 of the war in Iraq. On the Big Three networks' evening newscasts, the time devoted to Iraq has fallen 60 percent between 2003 and this spring…
This is happening even as the casualties in Iraq, averaging more than 100 a day, easily surpass those in Israel and Lebanon combined…
The steady falloff in Iraq coverage isn't happenstance. It's a barometer of the scope of the tragedy. For reporters, the already apocalyptic security situation in Baghdad keeps getting worse, simply making the war more difficult to cover than ever. The audience has its own phobia: Iraq is a bummer. "It is depressing to pay attention to this war on terror," said Fox News's Bill O'Reilly on July 18. "I mean, it's summertime." Americans…know defeat when they see it, no matter how many new plans for victory are trotted out…
In contrast to the Israel-Hezbollah war, where the stakes for the combatants and American interests are clear, the war in Iraq has no rationale to keep it afloat on television or anywhere else. It's a big, nightmarish story, all right, but one that lacks the thread of a coherent plot…
it's the collapse of the one remaining…motivation that still might justify staying the course in Iraq–as a humanitarian mission on behalf of the Iraqi people–that is most revealing of what a moral catastrophe this misadventure has been for our country.
Of course, the Bush administration had lost the likes of Frank Rich from "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States…." but I think the news coverage data, if accurate, is telling. Still, if the American people are so sick of this war, where is politically effective force running against it? (Those hopped up on nedrenaline need not apply….) I fear even Mr. Rich will be disappointed this November (and probably in November 2008 as well) at exactly how much lack of interest in reading about or watching TV about the war translates into voting against it, to the extent we are even able to.